About 11,000 people visited South Delhi's 'Waste to Wonder Park' on June 30, the first day since the civic authorities hiked the ticket price for Sundays, officials said Monday.
Authorities at the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), which governs the park spread over seven acres, had on Saturday announced the doubling of the ticket price for Sundays, across different segments of visitors.
For other days, the existing entry fees will continue to apply, they said.
"The ticket price hike came into effect from June 30, and on that day, about 11,000 visitors came to see the park. It is really emerging as a major tourist attraction in Delhi," a senior SDMC official said.
The park features a 60-ft Eiffel Tower, a 20-ft Taj Mahal and replicas of five other wonders of the world, built using 150 tonnes of industrial and other waste in south Delhi, and was thrown open to the public on February 22.
Also Read
On Eid, the theme park had attracted 12,327 visitors, including senior citizens. The collection on that day through the sale of tickets was over Rs 5.48 lakh, a senior official had earlier said.
The daily footfall is surging day by day and the park is emerging as one of the most favoured places to visit for people.
The SDMC said on Saturday that it had taken the decision to hike the ticket price to overcome the problem of traffic jam and incidents of "vandalism" by few people due to hugh rush of visitors to the park on Sundays.
"Under the decision, the SDMC has agreed to hike entry fee on Sundays which will help in the smooth movement of visitors in the park and mitigate the problem of parking outside the park," the corporation had said in Saturday.
"It has been observed that more than 15,000 visitors have been visiting the park on Sundays against the capacity of 10,000," it said.
The entry fee for visitors aged 12-65 has been increased from Rs 50 to Rs 100, for children aged 3-12, the fee has been hiked to Rs 50 from Rs 25, and for students of schools not under the MCD, the ticket price has been enhanced from Rs 20 to Rs 40 on all Sundays.
The entry of children up to three years and persons above 65 years will continue to be free on Sundays. Students of municipal schools will continue to enter the 'Waste to Wonder Park' without any ticket, a senior official said on Saturday.
The park built at a cost of Rs 7.5 crore, operates from 11 am to 11 pm on all days, except Monday.
The total revenue collection since its opening had crossed Rs 2 crore on June 6, South Delhi Mayor Sunita Kangra had said.
The collection on June 2 was the "highest on a single day" and it reached Rs 6.73 lakh with footfall of 15,133 visitors, she had said on June 6.
The replicas in the park are the Taj Mahal (20 ft), the Great Pyramid of Giza (18 ft), Eiffel Tower (60 ft), Leaning Tower of Pisa (25 ft), Rio de Janeiro's Christ the Redeemer (25 ft), Rome's Colosseum (15 ft) and New York's Statute of Liberty (30 ft).
Eiffel Tower, the veritable symbol of Paris and France, which is the tallest among the replicas, and a Taj Mahal fashioned out of industrial and other waste, including used cycle chains, and motifs drawn on it using laser-cut technology, strikingly stand out.
Union Minister Rajnath Singh had inaugurated the 'Waste to Wonder Park' situated in Rajiv Gandhi Smriti Van near Sarai Kale Khan in February.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
